Review: BlackBerry Curve 8520

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Earlier this month I wrote a review on the BlackBerry Tour 9630 and compared some of its features to the BlackBerry Curve. Well, now I have a chance to compare apples to apples by reviewing the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and comparing it with the BlackBerry Curve 8330 from Sprint. The first thing you notice with the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is that it has a sleeker designer.

The 8520 is slightly thinner than the 8330 and this is accentuated by the phone’s primary four buttons which are flush with the smartphone’s screen. The 8330’s rounded trackball has been replaced with a trackpad for navigation on the 8520. Personally, this made the 8520 a lot nicer to navigate than the 8330. Another difference between the phones is that the volume and camera buttons on the side of the smartphone have been weatherized on the 8520 giving it a sleek feel while it’s in the palm of your hand.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is offered from T-Mobile so you can bet it features myFaves capability. The phone also features Wi-Fi connectivity. That’s a feature which many BlackBerry users have wanted for a long time. The nice thing about the Wi-Fi connectivity, besides broadband speeds, is that it is compatible with the T-Mobile Unlimited Hotspot Calling service which allows for unlimited calling without using your monthly minutes.

Other features of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 include it’s quad-band support allowing for it to be a world phone. A 2MP digital camera is also included which includes zoom and video recording. Yet, probably the most important feature on the 8520 for web surfers is the full HTML web browser. Yes my friends, you can actually visit your favorite websites in their full glory without having to deal with some mobile version of a website which may not have the the full features you are looking for. The Wi-Fi broadband speeds makes web surfing even more enjoyable.

The 8520 also makes it really easy to sync music from iTunes or Windows Media Player by using the included BlackBerry Media sync which also handles pictures and videos. To help you store as much media as possible the smartphone comes with a 1GB microSD card. Rounding out the nice features of the 8520 is voice activated dialing and Bluetooth 2.0 support.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 has a lot of features over the older 8330. Not only is it a good looking smartphone it also has the coveted Wi-Fi functionality. The phone will run you US$129.99 after a US$170.00 instant discount with a two-year contract.